


How to Save a Life

by hippiefairy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: AKA that weird scene in space didn't happen, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Pepper Potts, Background Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It of Sorts, Grief/Mourning, Human Experimentation, Minor Character Death, No Team Cap bashing, Not Compliant with the end of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Not Spider-Man Homecoming compliant, Peter Needs a Hug, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Protective Avengers, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Rhodey Needs a Hug, So is Darcy, Sokovia Accords, Suicide Attempt, Thor is a good hugger, Tony Needs a Hug, because basically everybody needs a hug or three, creepy bad dudes, even though author is firmly on Tony's side, really though, these guys just need to actually talk, which is good
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-08 09:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11079171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hippiefairy/pseuds/hippiefairy
Summary: Peter was pretty happy, an internship at Stark Industries, a fantastic suit, school was okay, and he and Aunt May were going to watch corny movies all weekend. Yep, life was good... and then he finds a woman on a bridge, a woman with a warning for him, a warning that his past is coming back to haunt him.





	1. Hold My Hand

**Author's Note:**

> My friend challenged me to write a story where each chapter is based on songs from one of my playlists (and, for some reason, I thought this was a good idea). Anyway this story is named for the song "How to Save a Life" by The Fray, and this chapter is loosely inspired by their song "Hold My Hand".
> 
> G, this is for you.

The young woman was dressed to look glamorous, a plunging neckline, a subtly sparkly black gown that clung to her body, large square cut emeralds in her ears and around her neck and black gloved wrists. She held tightly to a small black purse that sparkled just a hint more than her dress. She looked like she belonged at a movie premiere with her red lips and softly curled brown hair, not on a bridge in the middle of the night, standing far closer to the edge than was safe and peering into the water.

 

Peter hesitated, suicidal women were not his forte, he could catch her if she fell, but talking her down? Probably not. He wasn’t even in his suit, he’d been walking home from the library after a brutal study session, and, truthfully, it was far too late for plain old Peter Parker to be out, Aunt May would have a fit if she ever found out. But Aunt May was working late all week and Peter still had plenty of time to get home before her.

 

The woman looked up, she must’ve seen him because she turned slightly towards him and smiled dreamily.

 

“Aren’t you a bit young to be out so late?” she asked, her tone as dreamy as her smile, her eyes too large.

 

“Uh… are… are you okay?” Peter stuttered a little, his senses were tingling and he took a hesitant step forward so he would be close enough to do something if he had to.

 

“I’m fine, sweet of you to ask. You are so  _ young _ ” she continued “I’m not sure I was ever that young. Do you see the ghosts?”.

 

“Ghosts?” Peter’s hand dropped into his pocket, to the phone Mr. Stark had given him, there was an emergency button on it, but Peter was pretty sure that wouldn’t connect him to the police and he sure didn’t want to call Mr. Stark. He fumbled until he hit what he hoped was the nine button but he didn’t get any farther before she spoke again.

 

“Please don’t call anyone” she said “I don’t want to jump but I will if anyone else comes close”.

 

“If you don’t want to jump, why are you here?” Peter asked, his thumb hovering over the one.

 

“Because I wanted to meet you Peter” she turned back until she was facing the water again “won’t you join me over here?”.

 

“I’m perfectly happy right here” Peter replied “how do you know who I am?” there was no reason for anyone to go to any trouble to meet  _ him _ … did she know he was Spider-Man? Maybe he should be calling Mr. Stark… but he didn’t, he didn’t want to risk her jumping.

 

“ _ He _ told me about you, you were the first” she replied, she had started swaying gently side to side. Peter gulped nervously and took his hand out of his pocket, hugging himself as he stepped just a bit closer.

 

“Who is  _ he _ ?” Peter asked, knowing, and dreading, the answer.

 

But she didn’t answer him, she shivered and began to shake.

 

“You can’t help me” she said.

 

“Maybe not” Peter admitted “but I know people who could”.

 

She shook her head “he’ll come for you” she whispered.

 

Peter shivered, fear gripped him momentarily but he tried to shake it off as he moved closer to her, she probably wasn’t a danger to him and he wanted her to understand that he wanted to help.

 

“Maybe he will” Peter answered, his voice far steadier than he thought was possible “but I won’t be on my own this time, I have friends who will help, they would help you too”.

 

“I don’t want to jump” she said.

 

“Then don’t, give me a chance, give  _ yourself _ a chance” Peter held a hand out to her “please?”.

 

Her eyes filled with tears as she turned to look at him “I don’t even know if jumping would work” she said quietly “but I want to fly”.

 

Peter shook his head “flying is fun, falling isn’t, this would be falling”.

 

“Can you fly?” she asked.

 

“Not exactly” Peter told her “I can swing through the air though, kind of feels like flying”.

 

She turned all the way towards him, a childlike look of wonder in her eyes “can you show me?”.

 

Peter nodded “yeah, of course. Take my hand and we’ll go somewhere safe”.

 

He smiled gently at her as she reached for his hand, a tremulous smile on her own lips.

 

“Thank you Peter” she said “but I can’t” she pulled her hand back and shoved herself off the bridge.

 

Peter froze for a second in horror, but he shook it off quickly and flung himself after her, grateful that he practically never took his web-shooters off anymore. His eyes searched frantically for her, she couldn’t have hit the water already, he would’ve heard, so where was she? He clung to the underside of the bridge for several minutes as he tried to find her, it was no use though, she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He finally gave up, his heart clenching in sadness and worry. She probably wasn’t dead, he reminded himself, but she needed help and he had no way to find her. Maybe Mr. Stark would have some ideas, if Peter actually mentioned any of this to him, maybe he could leave out a few bits? There was just some things he didn’t want the genius billionaire knowing.

 

.

.

 

There was a light on in their apartment and Peter paused in the doorway, Aunt May shouldn’t have been home yet, he was going to have some real explaining to do. He tiptoed through the kitchen and sighed when he saw May snuggled on the couch, she didn’t usually fall asleep on the rare occasions she’d had to wait up for Peter, but her hours at work were all screwed up so she was probably exhausted. He debated on waking her up but she looked too comfortable to disturb. He grabbed an old afghan from the back of the couch and draped it over her.

 

“Sweet dreams Aunt May” he whispered.

 

.

.

 

An alarm buzzed in Peter’s ear and he blinked blearily as he slapped the snooze button.

 

“Oh shit” he mumbled, remembering the lecture he was sure to get from May this morning. He sat up groggily and rubbed at his eyes. At least this week was almost over, the two of them were going to spend the weekend on the couch, watching movies and eating snacks, and next week May went back to her normal hours, which made it a lot easier for Peter to sneak out at night. He sighed, wishing it was already Saturday.

 

Fifteen minutes later he was dressed and ready for breakfast. He started towards the kitchen but paused as he saw May still asleep on the couch. He checked his watch and shrugged, she didn’t have to be at work for a while yet, he’d call later and make sure she was up.

 

.

.

 

Peter still hadn’t decided what to do about the woman on the bridge as he sat down in his first class, he was supposed to be at Stark Industries this afternoon, maybe he’d see Mr. Stark and he could bring it up. He didn’t like leaving her all by herself, knowing what she was up against. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, willing away his own dark memories and wishing Ned was in this class with him, he’d give anything to be able to listen to the other boy’s babbling, it was a slightly odd way of centering himself, but it worked, maybe because Ned was so solidly and comfortably normal. Or maybe it was because Ned was a really good friend and knew when and how to distract Peter. Not that it mattered right now, Ned wasn’t here and Peter needed to get a grip. 

 

The class passed in a blur, Peter couldn’t concentrate, he felt uncomfortable, like something was wrong. He’d felt like that most of last night too, but he’d put it down to concern about the woman from the bridge. He wasn’t so sure now and he was relieved when the class ended. He rushed out of the classroom and found the quietest corner he could to call May. The phone rang and rang with no answer and Peter checked the time anxiously, she couldn’t have left for work yet. Surely the phone would wake her if she was still asleep. A tight ball of anxiety curled up in Peter’s stomach and he shuddered, wrong wrong, something was wrong… he had to check on her, had to make sure she was okay. He was going to be in so much trouble for sneaking out of school if she was, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

 

.

.

 

Peter’s hands trembled as he unlocked the door to their apartment.

 

“Peter? What are you doing here now?” the voice of Mrs. Furler from across the hall had him turning around, trying to plaster a smile on his face.

 

“I just forgot something Mrs. Furler” he tried.

 

“Mmm hmm” she pursed her lips “I’m no idiot Peter, and you’re a terrible liar, what is wrong?” the tall and wiry woman crossed her arms as her brown eyes bored into Peter’s. He gulped.

 

“Um, I just… Aunt May wasn’t awake when I left, and she didn’t answer the phone when I called” he explained, knowing he sounded paranoid. But Mrs. Furler’s face took on a concerned look.

 

“Then we should definitely check on her” she said, gesturing for Peter to open the door.

 

Aunt May was still on the couch, it didn’t look as though she’d moved at all and Peter rushed to her side.

 

“Aunt May?” he shook her shoulder “Aunt May?” he was only dimly aware when Mrs. Furler taking his place, of her trying to wake May, of her calling an ambulance, of her gently guiding him down onto the floor as his legs trembled, of her checking Aunt May’s pulse. None of it felt real, it was like a distant memory.

 

“Peter” Mrs. Furler’s voice cut through some of the fog as she knelt in front of him “you need to breath, come on Pe…” her voice faded out and Peter closed his eyes.

 

“Peter?” another voice lobbied for his attention, this one was sharper, clearer.

 

“You shouldn’t be here” the voice said “you’re needed in the real world”.

 

“Who are you?” Peter whispered.

 

“My name isn’t important” the voice answered “but we met last night, on a bridge, you said you’d take me flying. You were right, I didn’t like falling, I want to try flying”.

 

“You’re worried about someone” the voice stated “you should go back to her, she’ll need you, be careful Peter, they’re coming for you next”.


	2. Keep on Wanting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the kudos and to EowynPevensie90 for commenting, I really appreciate it :)
> 
>  
> 
> This chapter's name from the song "Keep on Wanting" by The Fray.

Tony glanced at the doors and huffed a sigh, Peter had never been late before, even that time he’d gotten held up by stopping a bank robbery he’d still been in the building on time, if not quite where he was supposed to be.

 

“Friday?” he asked.

 

“Mr. Parker is not yet in the building Boss” his AI replied.

 

“Damn it” Tony whispered under his breath “try calling him again” he said out loud.

 

“Yes Boss”.

 

Tony sighed again, he’d seldom regretted asking the kid to help him, felt guilty about it, yes. Regretted it, no. The kid was good, but he was a kid, someone needed to keep an eye on him.  It was a lot easier to get the kid to agree to keeping them in the loop if he thought they were considering him for the Avengers. Not that they  _ weren’t  _ considering him, but if Tony really had any choice the kid would be eighteen or older before they’d officially invite him on the team. 

 

Assuming there even was a team at that point, Tony sifted through the pile of papers on his desk and found the latest version of the Sokovia Accords, he was so tempted to burn it, but that would be petty, even for him. Besides, Pepper would just send him another copy. She’d become his best ally in this fight, if she wasn’t busy with SI business, she was going through the Accords herself and taking notes, adding ideas, making it better, making it  _ work _ , for everyone. Her drive and confidence were things Tony sorely needed to help him win this fight. He still firmly believed in the Accords but Cap’s ultimate betrayal had made it difficult for him to even look at them. Why couldn’t Steve just stop for a minute and  _ see _ that it was about so much more than just them. It wasn’t about them not taking responsibility for their own actions (where the hell did he even get that idea?) and it wasn’t  _ just  _ about accountability or safety for the Avengers. Tony had known from the start of this mess that if they didn’t proactively work towards  _ some  _ kind of agreement, well, it wouldn’t just be the Avengers, any and all people with special “abilities” would be subject to whatever the U.N. threw at them. And there was already too much fear and prejudice against people who had done nothing but try to live normal lives. So Tony was working on it. He spent most of every day working on it, or working on pardons for all of Team Cap, he’d almost managed to push through pardons for Wilson and the ant guy. Some of the others were more complicated, Barnes and Wanda especially, but Tony wasn’t going to take no for an answer. None of them, or anyone else for that matter, were going to end up in a place like the Raft ever again because of the Accords. Tony so badly wanted to destroy the damn thing all on his own. He’d barely resisted the urge, especially when he’d seen what they’d done to Wanda.

 

“Boss?” Friday interrupted his musings and he looked up from the Accords.

 

“Is he here?” he asked.

 

“No Boss, and he wasn’t answering his phone so I tracked it” Friday sounded slightly hesitant, as though worried Tony wouldn’t approve.

 

“Good job Friday” Tony said “so where is he?”.

 

.

* * *

 

.

 

“Peter?” Mrs. Furler sat down beside Peter and offered him the bottle of water she'd gotten from the vending machine.

 

“Any news?” he asked quietly, taking the bottle.

 

She shook her head “she’s stable, that’s all they’ve told me”.

 

“Family of May Parker?” a man had come up to them, a woman standing slightly behind him. Mrs. Furler nodded and the man showed them a badge.

 

“Detective Reagan, this is Detective Baez” he gestured towards the woman.

 

“Could we speak to you?” he directed the question to Mrs. Furler and she looked hesitantly at Peter before nodding and moving towards the corner of the room with them. 

 

Peter scoffed at the distance, it was a quiet room with few other occupants, did they really think he couldn’t hear them?

 

“You’re May Parker’s neighbor, Emma Furler, correct?” Detective Reagan asked.

 

“Yes” Mrs. Furler affirmed “I don’t understand, why are detectives investigating this?”.

 

“The doctors think Mrs. Parker was poisoned” Detective Baez answered “with a poison similar to one used in three open homicide investigations”.

 

Peter’s jaw clenched, had someone really poisoned Aunt May? His brow furrowed, was this because of him?

 

“I understand that you and Mrs. Parker’s nephew were the ones who found her?” Detective Reagan waited until Mrs. Furler had nodded before continuing “it was too early for Mr. Parker to be home from school, do you know why he was?”.

 

Mrs. Furler crossed her arms “I’m not sure why that would matter” she said “but I suppose it does no harm to tell you that Peter was worried about his aunt, she wasn’t awake when he left this morning and she didn’t answer the phone when he called”.

 

“That’s not normally enough for a kid to skip out of school and go check on someone” Detective Reagan pointed out.

 

“Possibly not, though you might be surprised by what will worry a kid, but in this case” Mrs. Furler paused and glanced quickly in Peter’s direction, he had his head down, using a hand to roll the water bottle along his leg, looking as innocent as he could.

 

“Peter’s uncle died about a year ago, it’s just him and May now, they both worry rather more than is necessary about the other” she told the detectives.

 

“Do you know what happens to Peter if his aunt passes away?” Detective Baez asked.

 

Mrs. Furler blinked “why?” she asked, confusion clear on her face.

 

“Because, in each case of poisoning, there was a kid left with nowhere to go” Detective Reagan answered “and those kids disappeared soon after”.

 

Mrs. Furler gasped “what? Are you saying Peter might be in danger?” she asked.

 

“We’re not sure” Detective Baez told her “but we want to make sure he isn’t”.

 

Mrs. Furler sighed “actually my wife and I are supposed to be his guardians, May asked us a couple of months after Ben died”.

 

Peter hadn’t known that, but it didn’t really surprise him, of course Aunt May would try to make sure he was okay. And both Emma and Yvonne were good friends of her’s. Peter liked them well enough, but he didn’t want to think about living with them. Aunt May had to be okay.

 

“Detectives, how do I keep him safe?” Mrs. Furler asked worriedly.

 

“The other kids always disappeared within a couple of days of their guardian’s death, in the case of one, that meant almost a week after the victim was initially poisoned” Detective Baez told her.

 

“So as long as Mrs. Parker is alive, Peter is probably safe” Detective Reagan finished.

 

“That does not comfort me” Mrs. Furler practically hissed “it doesn’t sound like you really know enough to be sure of anything”.

 

“We don’t” Detective Reagan admitted “we’re going to keep looking into this, hopefully we’ll have answers soon”.

 

“I certainly hope so” Mrs. Furler shook her head “will you keep me updated?” she quietly asked.

 

“Yes we will” Detective Reagan assured her as he handed her a card “and if you need to get in touch with us”.

 

“Could we talk to Peter?” Detective Baez asked “just for a minute?”.

 

“I.. I suppose” Mrs. Furler answered “actually, I really need to call my wife but I don’t want to leave him alone now, could you stay with him for a few minutes?”.

 

“Of course” Detective Reagan told her.

 

Peter straightened up as the detectives approached, he put the water bottle on the floor and wrapped his arms around his torso.

 

“Peter? Could we ask you a few questions?” Detective Baez asked him gently.

 

He shrugged “I guess”

 

.

.

 

Peter was glad when the detectives left, he needed to think, could this be random? That would be a weird coincidence though… okay, probably not random, someone had targeted Aunt May, and with the odd incident last night, Peter didn’t have to guess at who. What was he supposed to do now?

 

.

* * *

 

.

 

“How?” Steve Rogers ran a hand through his short blond hair and sighed heavily “T’Challa, you said no one could break into your facility. How could Bucky be missing?”.

 

“I do not know” the Wakandan king answered “I intend to find out though” he promised.

 

“I have to find him” Steve said.

 

“You may need help with that” T’Challa pointed out “the only thing I can tell you is that he is not in Wakanda”.

 

Steve nodded “I guess I’ll be getting the band back together”.


	3. Wherever This Goes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the comments and kudos! They mean a lot to me :)
> 
> This chapter's title from the song "Wherever This Goes" by The Fray.

Since Sam Wilson was a fugitive he supposed he technically shouldn’t be buying coffee at a cutesy little coffee shop in Seattle, but he was dying for a decent cup of caffeine. And he’d worn various shades of gray clothing so he fit in pretty well. It was kind of weird how gray everything was, the walls, the customers’ clothes, the cloudy sky outside the large windows. Luckily the coffee was definitely not gray, although, the foam cat staring up at him was slightly disconcerting. He wondered if T’Challa had ever had a cup of coffee with a foam cat in it… probably not, Sam would have to change that if he ever saw the Wakandan king again.

 

He slumped down in his chair a bit and stared out the window, he really wasn’t being as cautious as he should be, but he was tired of running. He’d made his decision about the Accords and he stood by it, but this kind of life wasn’t for him, he needed to be  _ doing _ something. Something useful, something helpful, hell, just  _ something _ . Besides constantly running that is. He’d originally treated this whole thing like a road trip, checking out the sights he’d always wanted to see, and he had to admit it’d been kind of fun. The Grand Canyon was pretty cool, the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Park had been interesting, and he’d had fun standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona. But his adventures in Arizona had been more than enough “road trip” for him and he’d started slowly just meandering wherever the wind took him. Truthfully, that was even worse.

 

He sighed deeply and finished his coffee as he stood up, time to hit the road again.

 

“Sam Wilson” the voice behind him was unfamiliar. 

 

‘Damn, well, this is what you get for not being careful’ Sam thought as he turned around to see an unimposing man in a suit and, for some weird reason, sunglasses.

 

The man whipped his sunglasses off and then took out a badge. Sam couldn’t help but be slightly impressed, and kind of amused, it was all so very secret agent-y.

 

“Phil Coulson” the man introduced himself.

 

Sam raised an eyebrow “I seem to recall hearing you were dead”.

 

The man nodded matter of factly “the reports of my death was rather exaggerated I’m afraid”.

 

“Really? That’s what you’re going with?” Sam challenged him “because I never knew Phil Coulson, but I find it hard to believe the man I’ve heard so much about would allow people that cared for him as much as Natasha.. Clint… hell, even Tony, to believe that he was dead for… how many years has it been?”.

 

The other man’s face dropped slightly for a moment but it was so quick Sam wasn’t sure he hadn’t imagined it.

 

“This may sound trite, but, it’s complicated” the man told him.

 

“Yeah. Sure” Sam scoffed “so why are you here? Real or fake, there is no reason for Phil Coulson to meet up with a disgraced former Avenger”.

 

“Actually” Agent Whoever said “I need your help contacting Captain Rogers”.

 

Sam snorted “yeah, that’s not happening”.

 

“I think this might change your mind” the man produced a folder from… somewhere and held it out towards Sam.

 

Sam frowned, mostly because he was seriously wondering if this guy had popped out of the womb as a fully formed government agent, it seemed the most likely option. He took the folder cautiously and opened it.

 

“Damn” he whispered “does Steve know?” he asked.

 

The man, Coulson? He shook his head “not yet”.

 

“Well damn” Sam said again, with extra emphasis this time.

 

“Fine.  _ I’ll  _ get in touch with Steve and see if he wants to talk to you” Sam said “give me a way to reach you”.

 

The man nodded and handed him a card “I’ll see you soon”.

 

.

* * *

 

.

 

Peter was sitting in small waiting with two women, one on either side of him, and Happy breathed a sigh of relief as he hurried over to them. 

 

“Happy?” Peter looked up at him in confusion “why are you here?”.

 

“You didn’t show up at the tower” Happy answered “we were worried and Friday took it on herself to track your phone. Although, you really should’ve called” he told the kid, ignoring the stares of both women.

 

“I’m sorry” Peter apologized “I should’ve let you know I wouldn’t be there”.

 

Happy shook his head “that is not what I meant kid” he sighed “look, are you alright? Do you need anything? Tony wanted to come himself but he was worried about media attention if he showed up here, figured someone would think you were his illegitimate kid or something”.

 

Peter shook his head “I’m fine, I appreciate that you came Happy, but you didn’t have to”.

 

“I’m sorry” one of the woman said, sounding anything but. 

 

“Who are you?” she asked Happy.

 

“Sorry ma’am, I’m Happy Hogan, head of security for Stark Industries” Happy replied.

 

“And does Mr. Stark normally send the head of his security to check on an intern when they don’t show up?” asked the other woman, she was looking at Happy suspiciously and her glare was so strong that Happy was glad he’d had practice dealing with Pepper’s glares, otherwise he’d be backing away.

 

“It’s okay Mrs. Furler” Peter answered for him “Happy is a good guy, so is Mr. Stark, I’ve been working with him directly for the last couple of weeks so of course he noticed I wasn’t there. I’m sure he sent Happy because we know each other since I’ve been hanging out around the labs at Stark Industries”.

 

Okay, so working  _ directly  _ with the boss was a stretch, but they  _ had _ spent some time together. And Happy really should’ve remembered that, as far as most people knew, Peter was just an intern. He mentally shrugged, the kid had handled it, both women were looking at him with less suspicion now.

 

“Yvonne Burke-Furler” one of the woman introduced herself “and this is my wife, Emma Furler”.

 

“Please, call us Emma and Yvonne” Emma said.

 

“I don’t suppose you could give us some tips on our apartment’s security, could you?” Yvonne asked.

 

Peter shook his head quickly “I’m sure Happy has to get back to Stark Industries Mrs. B.”.

 

“Well, if he’s a friend, I’m sure he’d want to help” Yvonne told him.

 

“Isn’t that right Mr. Hogan?” she addressed Happy. Beside her Peter had widened his eyes and shook his slightly, he looked like he was trying to subtly tell Happy to say no, which was definitely not going to work since Happy was too concerned and curious to say anything but ‘sure’.

 

Peter grimaced and sank so low in his seat Happy wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d slid right to the floor. The two women exchanged a look above his head and some kind of communication must have passed between them because Emma stood up and gestured for Happy to walk with her.

 

“Mr. Hogan” she started once they were out of the waiting room.

 

“Please, it’s just Happy” he interrupted her and was rewarded with a small smile.

 

“Happy” she began again, telling him what she’d been told about May Parker’s poisoning.

 

“Yvonne was quite serious when she asked if you could make some suggestions, Peter is our responsibility and… well” she shrugged helplessly “we don’t quite know what to do”.

 

“I may have a suggestion” Happy told her “but I’d need to run it by my boss first”.

 

“What are you thinking?” Emma asked.

 

“I’m thinking Peter should stay at Avenger’s Tower” Happy replied “Mr. Stark’s security system is near impossible to break through, and if someone did manage it, they’d still have to deal with whatever Avengers are hanging around”.

 

“That…” Emma’s forehead creased as she seemed to struggle for the right words “it doesn’t sound like a terrible idea, it’s just… well, Yvonne and I work in Queens, it would be difficult for us to stay there”.

 

“I’d take responsibility for Peter myself, we get along well” Happy assured her “you and your wife could stay in Queens”.

 

Emma hesitated “I need to discuss this with Yvonne, and, well Peter too I guess, he’s old enough to have an opinion”.

 

.

 

It didn’t surprise Happy at all when Tony told him in no uncertain terms that of course Peter was going to come stay with them. It did surprise him slightly when his boss then turned up at the hospital and got May Parker transferred to the infirmary at the tower with her own private doctor and everything. It’d been two weeks since that day and there had been no change, on the other hand, this was the longest any victim had survived so Happy supposed there was still hope.

 

Happy sighed as he watched Peter poke at his cereal.

 

“Come on kid, we’ve talked about this, you’ve got to eat”.

“I’m not hungry” Peter told him.

 

Happy sighed again. Something, besides the obvious, was wrong. The kid had been jumpy and argumentative since he’d moved into the tower. He spent most of his time either by his aunt’s bed, or sitting in the small private lab that Tony had gifted him. In both cases he usually just sat and stared at the walls or his own hands. And Happy and the boss had both agreed that they were worried. They weren’t quite sure what to do though, Peter shut down any attempts they made to talk to him. 

 

“Still need to eat” he said.

 

Peter scowled but he took a couple more bites before putting his spoon down.

 

.

* * *

 

.

 

Peter was glad when breakfast was finally over, he knew he was worrying Happy and Mr. Stark, he felt incredibly guilty about it too, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. He was so wrapped up in the plans he was mentally making that he just couldn’t seem to pay attention to anything else. Anyway, it was better than the alternative, he could go crazy worrying about Aunt May and getting lost in his memories and fears, or he could do something. Maybe he could help the woman from the bridge and Aunt May at the same time. He was convinced the two incidents were connected. He just needed proof. Proof, and a plan that would bring down the bad guys, that was what he did after all, Spider-Man took down the bad guys. Maybe not these kinds of bad guys though. He shuddered, he didn’t really want to face these guys alone, not again. But he wasn’t quite ready to go to Mr. Stark either, and what if he did? Would Mr. Stark let him continue? Peter didn’t think so, he couldn’t risk that, he needed to end this.

 

“You can do this Parker” he whispered to himself as he grabbed his backpack and hurried to the roof. Time for Spider-Man to take down some bad guys.


End file.
